Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: The Apprentices
by Umbre555
Summary: My take on Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky. The first book of what I hope to be a series. OPEN FOR OCS


Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Apprentices

Chapter 1: The Eye of the Storm

_"Whoa! Wh-wh-whoa...! Are you okay?"_

_"No! Don't let go! Just a little longer... Come on! Hang on!"_

_"N-n-no! I can't... hold on!"_

_*Strike*_

_"Waaaaaaaaah!"_

* * *

Along the coastline of the small Treasure Town, waves crashed into the cliffs, covering the rocks. The sky drew dark as the lightning struck down and rain pelleted the homes of all the restless pokemon.

No one would dare leave their houses on this dark night, many still cold under their warm blankets. The wind tore at their roofs and many houses were damaged in minutes.

One of these pokemon could not sleep for a different reason however.

Sheltered away inside the rock formation known as Sharpedo Bluff, safe from the ravaging storm, was a Riolu, shifting uncomfortably on a small straw bed, falling apart slightly by the wind.

_'The storm still hasn't cleared up yet...'_ He thought as he sighed, standing to his feet, going to get a drink of water. _'Hope it's cleared up by morning, I already feel nervous about this, a storm really wouldn't help me any.' _He cupped his paws into a small pool of water and promptly drank it. As he finished, thunder filled the air, causing him to flinch.

_'This kind of storm isn't normal...' _The Riolu thought to himself, looking at the sky nervously. The thought unsettled him, but he needed sleep. He couldn't think about the storm right now. He walked back over the the untidy pile of straw, and lay back down on it, attempting to avoid the storm outside...

* * *

The town was a shambles. Rooftops were blown over, Kecleon's shop was blown over, even the guild took a slight amount of damage. The townsfolk were all talking about the storm, worried. And they should be, if that type of storm came regularly, there would be no more Treasure Town.

As the Riolu reached the intersection, he looked at the paths. He thought about making a quick detour to the beach, but shook his head. If he was ever going to do this, he would have to do it now.

_'Here it is...' _ He thought nervously as he saw the large pink building. _'Here I go... I guess I just walk up?'_ He walked up the stairs and saw the guild close up. He thought quickly about turning back, leaving the place behind. He could always work for the Kecleon Brothers... He quickly shook his head. _'No. I refuse to be __paralyzed by this any longer! I have to steel my courage today!' _He thought confidently. All of that confidence ran away however as soon as he walked forward and stepped on that grate.

"Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!" A high voice yelled.

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?" A much louder voice demanded.

"The footprint is Riolu's! The footprint is Riolu's!"

He couldn't do it anymore. Any small amount of willpower Riolu had left decided to run away with his courage. "Waah! Th-that was to shocking!" He yelled. He was relieved the two voiced stopped... but then was dissapointed. "...I can't... I worked up the courage to go in, even after that storm. I told myself that this was the day but.." He looked down at the object hanging from his neck. "I thought that holding onto my personal treasure would help me but..." He sighed and sunk deeper down the tree he was leaning on. "I am such a coward..." He finished as he sadly went back down the path he came up, mind heavy. While he was doing that however...

"Hey Zubat. Did you get a load of that?"

"You bet I did, Koffing."

"That wimp that was pacing around... had something good right"

"That wimp had something, that's for sure. It looked like some sort of treasure."

"Do we go after it?"

The bat smirked. "We do."

* * *

If anyone saw the shore, It would be impossible to believe that their was a house-breaking storm the night before. However, it would be easy to believe it hit the Riolu pacing along the beach. "I'll never get into the guild. Never ever. I'm to cowardly, to weak, to-" The Riolu's self-loathing was cut in between by some groaning on the beach. An almost dead Vulpix, lying on the beach, unconscious while the tide was coming in. He ran.

* * *

Vulpix's POV

_'Where am I?' _I thought, attempting to recollect my thoughts. _'Ugh... I feel sick...' _I thought as I coughed out some salt water. Okay. Near the ocean. I blinked multiple times, and as my vision cleared, I saw a giant pool of water. Alright. Definitely near the ocean. I felt someone grab my arm, attempting to pull me up. "You're awake!" The voice, definitely male exclaimed. "That's a relief! You weren't moving at all! I was seriously worried! Do you remember how you ended up unconscious there?"

_'Unconscious? I was unconscious?' _I thought in shock. _'What happened?' _I attempted to get up, but it was like my body wouldn't let me. I turned my head to see a paw resting on my shoulder. _'Wait wait wait... no, of course not...'_ "Well I'm Anubis!" Anubis said happily. I looked where the voice came from, to see a Riolu standing there, relief written all over his face. _'No... No surely not...' _I thought as I started to piece together the situation. "Glad to meet you, uh, what was your name?" There it was. The Riolu was talking to me. I quickly backed away from him. "H-hey! I'm sorry that I touched you! I'm just trying to help!" It quickly tried to explain.

"W-what? How are you talking? I mean, your a **Riolu for christ's sake!**" I yelled, noticing my voice was higher piched than normal. "Uh, yea... What, am I not meant to talk? Your a really strange Vulpix-" "_What?!_" Okay, **_what?_ **I knew this... magic Riolu was mental now, I mean, I'm clearly a human. I walk over to the beach, until I pause for a second. _'Wait... why am I still on all fours?' _I started to worry as I thought over what he said. A tuft of red hair went over my eye, actually no, it looked more like... fur? My suspicions were confirmed when I attempted to wipe the fur out of my eye as I saw a paw reach up. "You have **_got_ **to be kidding me..." I say as I start brainstorming all the possible explanations that came to my mind. "What, forget your species?" He joked. "I mean, it's pretty obvious what you are: a female Vulpix." He finished as I froze.

_'Oh no...' _I quickly thought, as I looked between my legs to find... nothing. _'Oh no... Oh no oh no oh no...' _I started to panic. I was a girl. A girl Vulpix. What happened?! "What?! What!? **WHAT!?**" I screamed, scared and confused by my changes. I quickly took a deep breath, and decided to try and explain what was going on to the very confused Riolu behind me.

"I was human." I started. "Well, you don't look human to me." The Riolu stated. I rolled my eyes. "I find that pretty obvious, **thank you very much!**" He winced and gestured for me to continue. "I was a human **male.**" I saw the Riolu open his mouth slightly. "And before you say it, **yes.** I know." He promptly shut it. "I don't know why, or how, but I was turned into a pokemon." I finished. "A... human? How is that possible- Are you pulling a trick on me?!" The Riolu accused.

"Of course not!" I yelled in reply. "If I was trying to trick you, then would I have reacted the way I did? **NO!**" I yelled, causing the Riolu to stop again. "Okay then... In any case, what's your name?" He asked slowly, attempting not to set off my temper. I sighed. "It's..." I stopped. Oh no. What _was_ my name? "It's..." I thought as hard as I could, attempting to remember. _'Jake.'_ I thought. Yea, that was my name, Jake. I shook my head, attempting to clear it. "It's Jake... I- I'm Jake..." I quietly said. No memories. I can barely remember anything. I started a list of things I could remember, just to try and regain some memories.

_'Okay... My name is Jake, I was a human male, I...' _I stopped, attempting to regain some memories. I couldn't think of anything. Sighing at my useless attempts to regain my memory, I decided to keep talking to Anubis. "Oh, and by the way, you don't need to tip-toe around my anger like that." I decided to tell him. "I'm just... confused." I finished. He slowly began talking. "Okay then... Well, at least you don't seem to be a bad pokemon." He stated. He looked down. "Sorry, it's just that more and more rouge pokemon have been showing up lately... and have been getting a lot more aggressive. Things have grown lawless, so everyone has been on edge ever since." He finished. I cocked my head.

"Rouge pokemon? What-" I started, but I couldn't finish as two pokemon bumped into me, knocking me and Anubis over. "Well I do beg your pardon." A rugged voice said behind me as me and Anubis got up, him helping since I wasn't used to four legs yet. Anubis grew angry. "Hey!" He yelled. "Why'd you do that?!" I turned to face the two pokemon. A Zubat and a Koffing. The Zubat laughed. "Can't figure it out?" He taunted, "We wanted to mess with you, you wimp! Can't face up to us?" He laughed some more. "Wh-what?!" Anubis was slowly turning red. The Zubat looked down on a stone that fell off Anubis. "That's yours, isn't it?" He asked. Anubis faced the stone. "No! That's...!" He started, causing me to face-palm- er, "face-paw" as it were. The Zubat snickered. "Sorry kiddo. We'll take that!" He flew at the rock and picked it up. Anubis paled. The Koffing laughed. "Not gonna make a move to get that back?" He taunted, causing Anubis to start shaking in anger. "What's the matter? Too scared?" The Koffing continued, causing the Zubat to laugh some more. "I didn't expect that you'd be such a big **coward!**" He stated, causing the Riolu to shrink back. Laughing, the Koffing turned to Zubat. "Come on. Let's get out of here." They started to run past us. "See you around, **chicken!**" The Zubat laughed as the stone was taken into a cave, out of sight.

Poor Anubis was speechless. He couldn't believe what had happened. And I don't blame him. "...I...I take it that those "Rouge Pokemon" were them?" I asked slowly, turning to Anubis, who was still speechless. He sighed and turned to me. "Wh-what should I do?" He asked slowly. "That's my personal treasure. It means everything to me..." I raised an eyebrow at that. It looked just like a rock to me. Tears began streaming down his face. "If... if I lose that..." His voice trailed off as he sunk to the ground, down to eye level with me.

I felt sympathy for the poor guy. I mean, the thing was clearly important to him, and some random pokemon took it without reason. "Fine... I'll help." I said almost reluctantly. I mean, I don't know how to fight, let alone walk properly as a Vulpix! What help would I be? Either way, it made him happier. "You.. You'll help get it back for me?" He asked, wiping tears from his eyes. I rolled my eyes. "I already said I would." I stated. He smiled. "Th-thank you! Thank you so much!" He ran up to me and hugged me. I tensed as he did this, I really wasn't expecting _that_.

"Can't... Breathe..." I stated slowly as I started to turn blue. He blushed and put me down. "Thank you." He chuckled. "Sorry. Got carried away there, but either way, let's head to Beach Cave quickly before they get away!" I nodded. "Right." I replied, already regretting my decision to help Anubis. I ran as quickly as my new feet would allow, er, as fast as I knew how to travel on my new feet I should say, and entered the cave.

* * *

B1F - Beach Cave

As I entered the cave, I shouldn't of been surprised that the place would be a little wet and cold... but I didn't expect it to be so empty. As I walked in, I stepped on one of the puddles. I quickly pulled my paw out. "God that stings!" I said to no one in particular. "Well of course, you **_are_ **a fire type after all." Anubis informed me as I kept walking, avoiding the small springs. "Yea, but I didn't expect it to hurt this much!" I stated.

"So..." I started. "Hm?" Anubis looked to me. "How do we find these two anyway? It looks like a big place." I asked. "Well, we gotta find a staircase, and head to the next floor. They should be at the bottom, the fifth floor." He explained as I groaned. "What are you so afraid of? The pokemon down here shouldn't be that tough..." "It's not really that I'm worried about..." I said as my paw finally stopped stinging. "Then what are you worried about?" He asked me. I looked at him blankly. "Did you not see what happened when I touched a little bit of water? It's a beach cave, there is bound to be tonnes of water types around here, and I **_know_ **that's not gonna feel good." I explained. He nodded. "Ah, that would explain it. Hey, look!"

Anubis pointed to a clean, white staircase leading down. I looked at him. "Should I even bother asking?" "No. Not really." We headed to the next floor.

* * *

B2F - Beach Cave

I looked in fear as I stood in front of a giant pool of water. The Riolu next to me laughed. "What, are you aquaphobic?" He asked, but then remembered our last conversation. "Oh... sorry."

I turned shakily to Anubis. "Don't ask that question again, you know I'm a fire type." As I turned back, I jumped as a Corsola rammed me into the water. _'Oh no.__' _I screamed as I landed in the water, it mercilessly stinging my body. I quickly tried to swim, but then I remembered one scary fact: I didn't know how to in this body. I kept attempting to reach land, but to no avail. Anubis quickly saw where I was and swam to pick me up.

"Oh god, Oh god, Oh god, Oh god" I repeatedly said as the water started to sting my muzzle. I felt a force pick me up: Anubis picked me up. He quickly put me down on the ground as I was shaking. "Anubis?" I asked, scared. "Yea Jake?" "Remind me to think twice before I decide to go somewhere with you."

* * *

B5F - Beach Cave Pit

Luckily we got through the rest of the cave with little to no trouble, but either way I kept watching my back the entire way to the end. Eventually we entered a clearing on the final floor, where we saw Koffing and Zubat about to leave the dungeon. Anubis stepped forward. "uh... **HEY!**" He yelled. I face-pawed. Man, that seems to be a theme around here recently. "Smooth, Anu, Smooth." I said as I stepped forward. The two pokemon turned around.

"Well well..." The Koffing started. "If it isn't our old friend, the big chicken." Anubis trembled at this. "Give me..." He started. He shook his head, and more confidently yelled: "Give me back what you stole from me!" The Zubat snickered at this. "That's my personal treasure! It means everything to me!" "Treasure you say?" Oh Anubis, and you were doing so well... "So that thing really is valuable, huh?" The Zubat asked.

"It could be worth more than we'd hoped for I'd say." Well, Anu, it was nice knowing you, but you dug yourself a hole there. The Koffing laughed. "We ought to try selling it. Who knows? It might get a good price." He said as he turned to Zubat. "All the more reason not to give it back!"

"**WHAT!?**" Anubis yelled, his face slowly being drained of color. I never knew Riolu's could get this white. The Zubat smirked. "Well, if you want it that badly..." The Zubat began slowly. "Come and get it!" He yelled. Oh no. This... wasn't good. I don't even know how to tackle yet!

The Zubat swooped down on Anubis, knocking him over. "Ah!" He yelled. The Koffing smirked and released a gas cloud that surrounded both me and Anu. "No! He's using smokescreen!" My eyes started burning as I struggled to keep them open to look. "We need to let it clear up-" "You'll be knocked out by then!" I heard Zubat say as a sharp pain hit my back. I screamed out as I struggled to get up. "J-Jake!" Anubis yelled. "Are you alright?!" "Yea, I'm fine!" I yelled back, but he probably knew I was lying. Worst thing was that now I was separated from Anu! I was lost in the fog.

"Face it!" The Koffing bellowed over the smoke. "Your done!" I heard Anubis snarl, and a cry of pain come from the Koffing. "There we go!" I yelled to Anu. "Your asking for it now!" The Koffing started expelling more gas from his body. I felt a flame grow inside me. _'Wait...__' _I thought to myself. _'Is that... fire? Inside me?'_ I stopped as I saw some embers come out of my muzzle as I opened my mouth. I smirked. This might work.

"Anubis! Get away from Koffing!" I yelled. Anubis quickly backed away as he saw some small flames, guessing what I was doing. I opened my mouth, letting all the fire inside me out. A beam of fire was coming out of my own mouth! The fire hit the gas expelling from the Koffing and started to burn it, hitting both the Koffing and the Zubat. The fire stopped and I closed my mouth in shock, while the thieves fell to the ground, defeated.

"I have no idea how I just did that, but I could _definitely_ get used to it." I told Anubis, who's jaw was now on the floor practically. I kept thinking about how I did it, so I could recreate the results, but that thought was interrupted by a groaning Koffing. "Ouch..." The Zubat muttered.

"We got... roughed up." The Zubat stated. "Blast it... How'd we get wiped out by wimps like them?" The Koffing asked, causing Anubis to smirk, and me to scoff. **Wimp? **They had never even met me before! Oh well, either way, Anubis was ecstatic, you could almost see little party-poppers going off in his head. "Bah! Here you go; take it then!" The Zubat knocked the rock to Anubis, who was delighted. "Don't think you're so awesome," Warned Koffing. "That was a fluke!" "Yea, you remember that!" The Zubat agreed. The two pokemon flew off into the distance. Anubis rushed over to his stone. "It's my Relic Fragment!" He exclaimed. "I'm so glad, so glad that I got it back." He turned to me. "It's only because you agreed to help me, Jake... Thank you."

I smiled. "Think about it like paying a debt. You saved my life back there." I stated. Remembering earlier, I tensed up. "Also, remind me not to ever swim again..." He laughed and walked over to me. "We better head back." I froze. "Oh no, I am **NOT **going near those Corsola ever again..." He shook his head. "No no no, on the last floor of these places, there's always a short-cut back to the entrance. Let's go!"

* * *

Third-Person

Like Anubis said, there was a quick shortcut out of the area. There was a stairway in the wall, and soon both pokemon were out of the cave. "Seriously," Anubis started. "Thank you so much, Jake. I really appreciate that you went through so much trouble with me to get my Relic Fragment back."

"That was the 27th time you've thanked me," Jake stated, causing Anubis to blush a little. "And didn't I already talk about the water incident?" "I know... but still, thanks." Anubis finished. He took off his necklace and placed it in front of me. "Here's what they stole." He said. This was the first time Jake got to have a good look at it, and she could see it was more than a simple stone. There was intricate carvings on the top of it, and it looked ancient.

"I've always liked legends and history. I get so exited when I hear tales from the past! Hidden troves filled with treasure and strange relics, like this one! Uncharted territories veiled in darkness... New lands waiting to be found... It's amazing when you think about it!" Anubis explained, and one could clearly see the excitement in his eyes. "So when I came across this Relic Fragment, you could imagine how exited I was. I think there might be some significance to this pattern, and I really want to find out more about it!"

"That's why I want to join an exploration team. This thing must be a key for something, and I want to find out where the treasure lies! I want to solve the mystery behind this fragment!" His face darkened. "Earlier, I tried joining an exploration team... but I chickened out..." He admitted. He looked up at Jake. "So, what are you going to do Jake? You lost your memory... and somehow changed into a pokemon and swapped genders... Do you... have anywhere to go?"

"I... No, I don't, really. Maybe I could find somewhere in the wild, but... I don't know." Jake answered, thinking. _'Now that he mentions it, I really don't have anywhere to go. I don't know the first thing about surviving in the wild, and there might be a town somewhere but...'_ Her thoughts were interrupted by Anubis.

"Can I ask a big favor?" He asked. "Would you be willing to form an exploration team with me? I'm convinced I can form a great team with you, Jake. I mean, after we beat Koffing and Zubat, I'm convinced of that fact." Looking at the Vulpix with pleading eyes, he asked again. "So will you? Please?"

The Vulpix stood still, listing her options. _'What should I do? I'm getting recruited out of the blue! I don't know what an exploration team is... but... I've got no where else to go. I guess it wouldn't hurt to join him, I mean, at least it won't be dull. Okay, It's settled.' _A smile grew across the Vulpix's face. "Why not?" She said. Anubis' eyes shone, and tears of joy started coming. "Really? You'll form a team with me? **YES! **Thank you so much! We're going to be a great combination! Let's make this work!" Anubis pointed down the beach to the path he originally came down. "First, we should go to Wigglytuff's place and sign up as apprentices. That's where we need to train to become a first-rate exploration team. I'm sure that the training will be very tough, but let's give it out best Jake!"

Jake smiled. "Alright. Let's do this thing." While the Riolu skipped away, the Vulpix let her thoughts wonder. _'This decision is gonna bite me in the but later, isn't it?'_

* * *

**Umbre555: NUMBER 555 IS ALIVE!**

**Jake: What?**

**Umbre: What?**

**My small amount of followers: WHAT?!**

**Umbre555: Yes, I'm not dead! Now, I've had a small case of writer's block, but I've spent most of my time on my youtube channel. Once I realized that I hadn't posted another chapter of anything since last year... well... I pushed this out the door.**

**Now, this will be my main focus for the account, Pallet High will just become a side story from here on out-**

**Umbre: WHAT?**

**Umbre555: -but I'll try my best to interlink both stories. Now, I'm going to accept OC's for this story, but the OC's will have to be in by chapter 3 or I'll just have to make them. I'll let you make your OC's transformed humans if you want, but one of the OC's has to be tied up with Jake's past somehow.**

**Leader: Jake (F Vulpix)  
**

**Partner: Anubis (M Riolu)**

**Partner:**

**Partner:**

**Rival:**

**Rival:**

**Umbre555: So, here's the OC sheet.**

**Name:**

**Species: (Put TF in front of the person's name if they were not originally a pokemon)**

**Shiny: (Y/N)**

**Special Traits:**

**Description:**

**Personality:**

**Age:**

**What would he do if a person came up and stole all of his money?: (I need you to write this in first person so I have some kind of idea how to write his/her character)**

**Umbre555: So, that's it! This was Umbre555, and I'll see you later people.**


End file.
